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South Cambridgeshire District Council

Hayley says she has reported the problem a number of times, including when she first moved in almost three years ago. She claims that someone from the council came to visit, and told her that half of the ditch belonged to South Cambridgeshire and the other half to Teversham Parish Council.

But she says the parish council told her the ditch wasn't their responsibility. She says she phoned South Cambridgeshire in August, October and November but was not able to speak to anyone about the ditch.

On Tuesday (December 10) Hayley says she called the council again, demanding that somebody explained who the ditch belonged to. She says that they told her for the first time that the ditch was in fact private property, but did not tell her who the owner was.

Hayley says she now feels exasperated and asked: "Who do I turn to try and get some help?"

What the council says

After Hayley contacted Cambridgeshire Live, South Cambridgeshire told her someone would visit her home on January 4.

South Cambridgeshire District Council’s lead cabinet member for housing, Hazel Smith, said: “We take lots of pride in the 5,700 council homes that we own and maintain across South Cambridgeshire, and their surroundings.

"For example, the raft of improvements we have made to this property in Teversham includes external wall insulation worth around £11,000. Normally we don’t provide high-level fences around our properties simply because of the cost of doing so.

"We’d love to be able to afford to make all the changes to our council homes that residents ask for. However, we continue to face cuts in Government funding along with increased demand for vital frontline services that residents rely on like housing, bin collections and planning.

"However, a senior member of our housing team has arranged to visit the resident to discuss her concerns.”